In exactly one week I fly to Tel
Aviv in Israel
and from there will make my way to Haifa ,
home of Krav Maga Global's HQ.
For 5 days I will learn the
intricacies of the Kids Instructor Course.
This has been something I've
desperately wanted to do for about 18 months.
Since January of 2015 I've assisted
at my local kiddy Krav club, Junior Safe Krav Maga. Headed up by Russell
Brotherston, one of the instructors from Krav Maga Midlands, this was initially
a daunting and knackering task every Monday. Nothing has more zest for life
than a 6 year old child. They can run rings around all adults bar Olympic
athletes with their indefatigable desire to expend as much energy as possible.
I've worked with kids for over 20 years in various roles but above all I find teaching
children Krav Maga immensely rewarding. The kids are predominantly girls (a
flip from what we call Big Krav to them, where the ratio is about 1 woman to
every 10 blokes) and helping them develop the self confidence to "walk in
peace" (or even skip merrily) is a massively satisfying thing to do. The
little girl from THIS STORY is now one of the most confident in the class,
throwing roundhouse kicks with full force and getting stuck into everything we
do.
I've always wanted to back up the
experience and knowledge I've gained in a year & a half, with formal
certification. The last KIC in the UK
ran while I was off sick after a knee operation and the only one happening soon
that I could attend, was in Israel .
Without GIC under my belt I was obliged to get a recommendation from not only
Russell but also Jon Bullock, the head of KMG UK .
I spent 20 minutes drafting an email to Jon, outlining my reasons for wanting
to attend KIC and citing my extensive experience plus my recently acquired
Paediatric First Aid certificate. True to form Jon signed off on it with the
pithy reply "No worries at all, good luck".
After applying to Israel
and getting accepted onto the course I was informed that my certificate will be
an Assistant Instructor Diploma, automatically upgrading to a full Kids
Instructor should I ever take GIC in the future. Once the euphoria had abated
slightly I set about doing the more laborious stuff. A flight, accommodation
and sussing transport routes. The flight was easy but accommodation proved trickier.
I eventually got a studio apartment via the wonderful Airbnb website (like
Couchsurfing but you pay). I also booked a "chill out day" before
flying home, meaning I can hire a car and take a look around Israel
(or at least the bits nearest to Haifa ).
And the trainer will probably be
Zeev Cohen.
One more thing to pretend to not be
worried about.
I'm nervous as hell but thrilled to
bits to be a part of this.
* Check out my latest book, WALK IN PIECES: DIARY OF A KRAV MAGA PRACTITIONER. Available on Amazon.
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